Programs » Awards for Distinction
Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement
The Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement, first presented in 1988, celebrates the career of an artist who, among other distinctions, has demonstrated particular commitment to their work throughout a long career and has had an important impact nationally and internationally on the field.
2020 WINNER
Eleanor Antin
Eleanor Antin, born in the Bronx in 1935 to immigrant parents, is an innovator and pioneer as a feminist artist, performance and installation artist, conceptual artist, filmmaker, and writer. She is an emeritus professor of visual arts at the University of California, San Diego. Landmark feminist works include the photographic and mail art piece 100 Boots, exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in 1973, and her 1972 work Carving: A Traditional Sculpture. In photographic and conceptual works, Antin developed fictional personae, alter egos or “selves,” including a disenfranchised king, a nurse, and the black ballerina Eleonora Antinova, presented through photography, video performance, and fictional narrative. She is the author of several books including An Artist’s Life and Conversations with Stalin. In recent large-scale photographic tableaux, Antin reflects on contemporary issues such as ecological disaster and modern warfare through recreations of Roman history and mythology. Antin’s one-woman museum exhibitions include exhibitions at MoMA, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and, in 2019, Eleanor Antin: Time’s Arrow, a retrospective of her work at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Her work was included in Documenta 12 and in major exhibitions on the history of feminist art, including WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution at MOCA, Los Angeles, and MoMA PS1 and Elles@CentrePompidou: Women Artists in the Collection of the National Modern Art Museum in Paris. Antin was featured on the PBS Art 21 series. Her awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship and a 2006 Women’s Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award.
Jury: Mira Schor, Independent Artist, chair; Nancy Bowen, Purchase College, State University of New York; and Lisa Austin, Edinboro University.
PAST WINNERS
One of CAA’s most illustrious prizes, the Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement has recognized the long, prominent, and influential careers of many contemporary artists, among them Joan Mitchell and Louise Bourgeois in the 1980s; Willem de Kooning, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, and John Baldessari in the 1990s; and Alison Knowles, Elizabeth Murray, and Chris Burden in the present decade.
2019 Howardena Pindell
Jury: Lynne D. Allen, Boston University; Lisa Austin, Edinboro University; and Mira Schor, independent artist, New York City
2018 Pepón Osorio
Jury: Lynne D. Allen, Boston University; Judith Russi Kirshner, independent curator, Chicago; and Mira Schor, independent artist, New York City.
2017 Faith Ringgold
Jury: Patricia Cronin, Brooklyn College, The City University of New York, chair; Lynne D. Allen, Boston University; and Judith Kirshner, The Art Institute of Chicago.
2016 Carmen Herrera
Jury: Susan Taylor, New Orleans Museum of Art, chair; Patricia Cronin, Brooklyn College, City University of New York; and Judith Kirshner, The Art Institute of Chicago
2015 Keith Sonnier
Jury: Roy Dowell, Otis College of Art and Design; Darby English, Clark Art Institute;and Susan Taylor, New Orleans Museum of Art.
2014 Yvonne Rainer
Jury: Judith K. Brodsky, Rutgers University, chair; Roy Dowell, Otis College of Art and Design; and Darby English, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute
2013 Ellsworth Kelly
Jury: Ian Berry, Skidmore College, chair; Judith K. Brodsky, Rutgers University; and Roy Dowell, Otis College of Art and Design
2012 David Hammons
Jury: Ian Berry, Skidmore College, chair; Judith K. Brodsky, Rutgers University; and Helen Molesworth, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
2011 Lynda Benglis
Jury: Stephanie Barron, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, chair; Ian Berry, Skidmore College; and Hannah Higgins, University of Illinois, Chicago
2010 Suzanne Lacy
Jury: Stephanie Barron, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, chair; Hannah Higgins, University of Illinois, Chicago; and Alison de Lima Green, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
2009 Chris Burden
Jury: Stephanie Barron, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, chair; Hannah Higgins, University of Illinois, Chicago; and Ann Temkin, Museum of Modern Art
2008 Sylvia Sleigh
Jury: Leo Morrissey, Winston-Salem State University, chair; Robert Berlind, Purchase College, State University of New York; and Ann Temkin, Museum of Modern Art
2007 Will Barnet
Jury: Leo Morrissey, Winston-Salem State University, chair; Robert Berlind, Purchase College, State University of New York; and Ann Temkin, Museum of Modern Art
2006 Elizabeth Murray
Jury: Hearne Pardee, University of California, Davis, chair; Georgia Strange, Indiana University; Leo Morrissey, Winston-Salem State University; and Robert Berlind, Purchase College, State University of New York
2005 Nancy Spero
Committee: Richard Roth, Virginia Commonwealth University, chair; Hearne Pardee, University of California, Davis; Buzz Spector, Cornell University; and Georgia Strange, Indiana University, Bloomington
2004 Wayne Thiebaud
Committee: Richard Roth, Virginia Commonwealth University, chair; Hearne Pardee, University of California, Davis; Buzz Spector, Cornell University; and Georgia Strange, Indiana University, Bloomington
2003 Alison Knowles
Committee: Richard Roth, Virginia Commonwealth University, chair; Bailey Doogan, University of Arizona; Buzz Spector, Cornell University; and Ann Tucker, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
2002 Miriam Schapiro
Committee: Bailey Doogan, University of Arizona, chair; Jaune Quick-To-See Smith, independent artist, New Mexico; Richard Roth, Virginia Commonwealth University; and Anne Tucker, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
2001 Hollis Sigler and May Stevens
Committee: Bailey Doogan, University of Arizona, chair; Jaune Quick-To-See Smith, independent artist, New Mexico; Holly Block, Art in General; Archie Rand, Columbia University; and Anne Tucker, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
2000 Robert Blackburn
Committee: Deborah Willis, Smithsonian Institution, chair; Holly Block, Art in General; Joe Deal, Rhode Island School of Design; and Archie Rand, Columbia University
1999 John Baldessari
Committee: William D. Paul Jr., University of Georgia, chair; Holly Block, Art in General; Younghee Choi Martin, independent artist; and Joe Deal, Washington University in St. Louis
1998 Paul Cadmus and Agnes Martin
Committee: William D. Paul Jr., University of Georgia, chair; Joe Deal, Washington University in St. Louis; Younghee Choi Martin, independent artist; and Deborah Willis, Smithsonian Institution
1997 Peter Voulkos
Committee: Deborah Willis, Smithsonian Institution, chair; Rupert Garcia, independent artist; Younghee Choi Martin, independent artist; and Bill Paul, University of Georgia
1996 Manuel Alvarez Bravo
Committee: Deborah Willis, chair; Rupert Garcia; Richard Hunt; and Joyce Kozloff
1995 Ida Applebroog
Committee: Harry Rand, chair; Pat Adams; Rupert Garcia; Joyce Kozloff; and Margaret Lazzari
1994 Helen Frankenthaler
Committee: Harry Rand, chair; Pat Adams; and Margaret Lazzari
1993 Willem de Kooning
Committee: Whitney Davis, chair; Jack Perry Brown; and James Marrow
1992 Rupert Garcia
Committee: Joseph Mannino, chair; Camille Billops; Phillip Chen; and Margaret Lazzari
1991 Hans Haacke
Committee: Ann Page, chair; Margo Kren; Joseph Mannino; and John O’Connor
1990 Jacob Lawrence
Committee: Sam Gilliam Jr., chair; Audrey Flack; Keith Morrison; Anne Page; and Esther Parada
1989 Louise Bourgeois
Committee: Sharon Gold, chair; Deborah Butterfield; Sam Gilliam; Douglas Huebler; and Joan Semmel
1988 Joan Mitchell
Committee: Cynthia Carlson, chair; Siah Armajani; John Baldessari; Sharon Gold; and Ray Yoshida